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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23218048">Finding Someone</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mahou_shoujo_positivity/pseuds/mahou_shoujo_positivity'>mahou_shoujo_positivity</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Steven Universe (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkwardness, Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, F/F, Female Reader, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Interspecies Romance, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, My First Fanfic, Reader-Insert, Tooth-Rotting Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:49:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,920</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23218048</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mahou_shoujo_positivity/pseuds/mahou_shoujo_positivity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You always thought that, if you ever met the gem that tried to end all life on Earth, you would avoid her as best as possible so as to not get yourself killed. </p><p>Fate says you fall in love with her instead. Huh.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Spinel (Steven Universe)/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>92</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You were calmly strolling through Beach City, humming your favorite song under your breath when it happened.</p><p>You were so lost in your own thoughts that you forgot to look where you were going.</p><p>You bump into someone and before you knew it you were falling quickly towards the ground. You brace yourself for the impact, shutting your eyes tightly. Before you could hurt yourself, however, you feel someone grabbing your torso and holding you firmly.</p><p>The moment you open your eyes, they are met by beautiful magenta ones that are looking over you with worry. Before you could process who exactly was your savior, you have a very sudden and very gay thought: That she is strangely attractive, despite not being human. And somehow, strangely familiar.</p><p>“Are you okay?” Oh no, she has an accent. A very cute one. Though you couldn’t put your finger on where it could be from.</p><p>As you are about to answer, you suddenly remember why you felt like you have seen her before. Pink in color, messy double ponytails, black tear tracks running along her cheeks and an upside down heart-shaped gem in the center of her chest. She had been all over the news no less than a month ago after she had tried to end all life on Earth. You don’t remember her name, but you are sure she is the same one that everyone seemed to be terrified of.</p><p>Your previous words die on your throat upon that realization as you look up at her in fear. “I-I’m sorry! Please don’t hurt me!” You beg meekly. You know you sound pathetic, but you would honestly rather lose your dignity than lose your life.</p><p>She stares at you in shock before her expression turns into what almost seems like… sadness? The arm that was literally <em>wrapped</em> around your body retracts, and you stumble backwards as soon as you’re free from her grasp.</p><p>That’s all you have the courage to do, however. After taking a few steps backwards, you freeze again, awaiting her next move. Like a prey waiting for their predator to attack.</p><p>She lets out a defeated sigh, looking over at her companion. You had been so focused on her; you hadn’t even noticed she wasn’t alone. Beside her stood a teenage boy (fifteen, maybe sixteen at most), who you recognized as Steven Universe. A half-gem, half-human boy who had saved the Earth against less-than-friendly gems countless times.</p><p>You feel guilty for it, as he was quite a few years younger than you, but you felt slightly safer knowing he was around.</p><p>He turns to you with a reassuring grin. “Hey, don’t worry. Spinel doesn’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”</p><p>“She… doesn’t?” You look between the two of them skeptically.</p><p>Spinel shakes her head, offering you an awkward smile. “Don’t you worry, doll.” She surprises you by suddenly turning into a tangled mess of limbs. For a second, you are horrified, thinking something terrible was happening to her and that she was hurt. The panic that had begun to creep up into your chest dies out as soon as she winks at you from her place on the floor. “I don’t have a single life-threatening bone in me.”</p><p>You stare at her in disbelief for a long time, long enough that the air had become slightly uncomfortable. And then you laugh. Hard. You just keep laughing, half because of her lame joke and half because the situation was so incredibly surreal. There you were, face to face with the being that had almost ended your life along with everyone you loved, and she ended up being a complete goof.</p><p>You don’t notice, too lost in your own little world, but as Spinel went back to her normal form, her cheeks were colored with a lighter shade of pink and there was a wide smile spreading across her face.</p><p>You do notice, however, when Steven looks at his wrist at his nonexistent watch. “Oh, no! Would you look at the time!” He gives you a sly smirk, gently pushing Spinel in your direction. “I promised Connie we would hang out right now!”</p><p>Spinel looks about to protest. “Steven, wait-”</p><p>“Gotta go! Have fun, you two!” He whispers something to her that causes her to look panicked before turning on his heels and running away.</p><p>An awkward silence follows as you both stand there, looking at each other.</p><p>You are now alone.</p><p>Spinel clears her throat nervously, breaking the tense atmosphere. She then extends one of her hands towards you. “Seems like we started off on the wrong foot.” She emphasizes her point by clapping both feet against each other, her shoes making a squeaky sound.</p><p>You can’t help but giggle at her antics, taking her hand bashfully. You tell her your name. “It’s very nice to meet you, Spinel.”</p><p>She rubs the back of her neck, seeming embarrassed but pleased. “Likewise.”</p><p>“Sorry for assuming you were going to kill me.” You give her a crooked smile, playing with a strand of your hair as you look away in shame.</p><p>She shrugs, and you can see a hint of sorrow in her eyes. “Can’t blame you for that, toots.” She chuckles humorlessly. “I haven’t exactly made the best first impression.”</p><p>For some reason, her self-deprecating tone makes you want to hug her. You don’t, though. That would be weird. You settle for softening your expression. “Can I ask why you did what you did?”</p><p>Spinel sighs. “Sure thing, sugar.” She looks around, her gaze landing on a bench just a few feet away from you. She walks in its general direction as you hesitantly follow. She sits down, patting the seat just beside her. “I gotta warn you, though. It’s not a happy story.”</p><p>You wince, backpedaling. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to-”</p><p>She shakes her head, giving you a weak smile. “Nah, I want to. You have every right to know.”</p><p>You sit besides her, waiting patiently for her to begin her tale.</p><p> </p><p>During the story, you catch yourself wanting to comfort her multiple times. You talk yourself out of it each time, knowing that it was very unlikely for Spinel to appreciate a random stranger, a human who could never know the pain of what she went through, throwing at her empty words of sympathy.</p><p>And so you just sit there and listen.</p><p>She tells you about Pink Diamond, about the garden, about the game and about Steven’s message.</p><p>From beginning to end, you think Spinel isn’t even there with you anymore. Her eyes grow hazy as she stares out into space, giving you the impression that her memories had taken her far away from Beach City. You expected her to cry while telling the story, considering this was apparently only the second time she had shared it. But to your surprise, her voice remains steady and yet so full of anguish it makes your heart ache.</p><p>When she finishes, her eyes, once unfocused, turn to look at you. You are just about to say something when she interrupts you, voice filled with confusion:</p><p>“Why are you crying?”</p><p>You blink, taking a few seconds to process her words. You reach a hand to your face, only to realize that you are indeed crying. You don’t know when you started or how to stop the tears from flowing.</p><p>You continue to wipe your face, voice strained. “I just wish you didn’t have to go through that…” You explain lamely, wanting to hit yourself for being such a crybaby in front of a potential friend.</p><p>She looks shocked, but that look is quickly replaced by a warm smile that makes your heart skip a beat. “Oh, geez. If I knew you were going to start with the waterworks-” She gestures to the tear tracks on her face. “-I wouldn’t have told you that story at all!”</p><p>You laugh despite yourself, hiccupping all the while. “I’m sorry I’m such a mess.”</p><p>“Hey, now.” She lightly pinches your cheek, grin only growing. “Us messes should stick together, right?”</p><p>“Yeah.” You confirm with a nod. Then- “Wait, what?”</p><p>She suddenly blushes, as if just realizing the implication of what she had said. “Oh, um… ” She wriggles her hands in front of her bashfully. “Or not. We could totally just go our separate ways and never each other again. That’s fine by me!” She gives you the fakest grin you have ever seen.</p><p>You ponder on this for a bit. Spinel clearly had abandonment issues because of what this so-called ‘Pink Diamond’ had done to her. She was traumatized and in desperate need for someone to hold onto. If you were to become her friend, you were sure she would be very clingy at first. After all, this would be her first friend after Pink aside from Steven (who, according to her story, was someone she wasn’t so keen in being close to). She needed to be taught and shown how to have a healthy relationship. Were you ready for such a responsibility? What if you messed up?</p><p>You take one last look at her. Fidgeting on the spot and looking at the ground, with the expression of someone ready for rejection. You really want to wipe that look off her face.</p><p>And so you do.</p><p>You reach forward and this time you don’t ignore the feeling of wanting to hug her. “How about we be friends, Spinel?” You ask, voice just barely above a whisper.</p><p>You can’t see it with her in your arms, but her face lights up like a Christmas tree.</p><p>“If… If you’re fine with someone like me, then…” You hear her sniffle as you start to feel wetness on the back of your shirt. You couldn’t care less, however. “…I’d really like that.”</p><p> </p><p>You spend a lot of time chatting about anything and everything.</p><p>At one point, you both had moved from your spot on the bench and were currently sharing sweets and stories outside the Big Donut.</p><p>Well, you were mostly the one telling stories. Spinel didn’t have many pleasant memories to share with you that didn’t involve Pink Diamond. You considered yourself a pretty peaceful person, but you had to admit that if somehow you ever came across her, it would be very difficult for you to hold yourself back from punching her in the face.</p><p>Each time Spinel would laugh or smile at one of your silly childhood stories, you would feel a fuzzy sensation on your chest. You did your best to ignore it, telling yourself you were just excited to have a new friend. Deep down, you knew better. You had only known this gem for a few hours, and yet these feelings were already forming without your permission. You could only hope you weren’t being too obvious about them.</p><p>But everything was okay. This tiny crush you had would fade away soon. You just had to be patient.</p><p>“Uh, sweetheart?”</p><p>You are snapped out of your thoughts by her voice as she insisted on calling you nicknames. Sweetheart, toots, doll, darling… They would make you blush every time, and by the mischievous glint in her eyes, that was her plan all along. Not that you were complaining. They were all very cute, especially coming from her.</p><p>“Sorry, I…” You struggle to think of an excuse as to why you were staring at her like an idiot. “Your eyes are just really pretty to look at.”</p><p>Great. Now it seems like you’re flirting with her. You feel like slapping yourself.</p><p>You watch as a dark shade of magenta slowly covers her entire face. She just stands there for a moment, mouth opening and closing like a fish. Finally, she lets out an embarrassed giggle. For a brief second, you think you saw her pupils take the shape of small pink hearts, but that was probably just your imagination. “Aw, toots. Aren’t you a charmer?” She rubs the back of her neck and avoids looking at you.</p><p>You hadn’t expected such a cute reaction from such a simple compliment. But you suppose it makes sense, as she had been void of any kind of interaction with anyone for millennia, and as such wasn’t used to being complimented. For a brief span of time, you wonder if Pink Diamond ever said something like that to her. You drop the thought quickly; as you were sure you wouldn’t be pleased with the answer.</p><p>You decide then and there to assure her of her worth every time you had the chance. Not to see her blush (although, admittedly, that was one of your reasons) but to help raise her self-esteem. You haven’t known her for that long, but it was easy for you to tell she didn’t think so highly of herself. Having the person you trusted the most throw you away like trash would probably do that to you.</p><p>You were just about to make another positive comment about her, probably about her smile and how precious it was, when you hear someone clear their throat to get your attention.</p><p>“I didn’t want to interrupt you lovebirds, but I need to close the shop.” The Big Donut employee told you with a forced customer-service smile.</p><p>You look up at the sky, having not noticed how late it had become. It was just after noon when you had first met Spinel, so you two must’ve spent more time together than you realized. You choose to ignore the ‘lovebirds’ bit.</p><p>“Oh.” Spinel seemed to mirror your thoughts, which made your chest feel pleasantly warm. If she hadn’t noticed how long you spent chatting, it must mean she was really enjoying herself in your company.</p><p>“Sorry, we’ll get out of your way.” You tell the employee, standing up and offering your hand to your new friend.</p><p>She looks between you and your hand for a few times before hesitantly taking it. The flush on her cheeks still hadn’t completely faded away.</p><p>As she got up, she seemed to forget to let go of your hand, and even gripped it tighter. But, hell, you were not going to complain any time soon.</p><p> </p><p>You stood on the sidewalk for who knows how long, neither of you seeming to know what to do next. Should you say goodbye? If so, where you ever going to see each other again? The thought of this being a one-time thing made your heart hurt. You wonder if Spinel thought the same.</p><p>“Shall I walk you home?” She asked after an agonizingly long time. She had a smirk on her lips, but her eyes looked hesitant and hopeful.</p><p>You nod happily; glad to spend even a little more time with the gem that unknowingly caught your heart. But even still, you don’t walk forward. “My house is a bit far away.” You are torn between not wanting to reject her offer, and yet not wanting her to go out of her way just to take you home.</p><p>“That just means I get to spend more time with you.” She says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.</p><p>She had no idea how such simple words almost made your heart stop beating, did she?</p><p>It also didn’t help that she was still holding your hand.</p><p>“O-Okay, then.” You start walking in the direction of your house, cursing your stuttering.</p><p>She follows.</p><p> </p><p>You stay quiet for the duration of the trip. It wasn’t uncomfortable. Far from it, in fact. You usually hate the silence, desperate to fill it with conversation or some music. But with her, you feel oddly at peace, walking side by side with your hands in the middle.</p><p>When you start getting close to arriving, you start slowing down, not wanting the moment to end. She doesn’t question it, simply walking along with the new pace you had set.</p><p>But, unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. You reach your house and now it’s time to say goodbye.</p><p>You consider inviting her in, but quickly shake off the thought. You had already wasted too much of her time, and you feel like she would accept it just not to make you sad.</p><p>Looking at her, she seems conflicted about something too. Her brows are furrowed and she’s looking left and right, as if not knowing what to do next.</p><p>“Thank you for walking me here.” You finally say.</p><p>“Oh! Um.” It seems you’ve broken her out of some kind of trance, as she takes a while to respond. “It was my pleasure.”</p><p>This time, the silence is definitely awkward. What should you say next? Should you just go in? Maybe you should hug her first? But are you really that close already to hug each other goodbye? For a brief span of time, you consider kissing her cheek like in the movies, but your brain immediately throws that thought in the trash. This wasn’t a date.</p><p>She turns away from you, seeming ready to leave. Before she can, though, you are tugged forward with the hand she is still holding. She first stares at your joint hands with a blank expression. As the realization of what she had unconsciously done sinks in, her blush returns full-force.</p><p>“I’m so sorry!” She lets go of your hand, and you immediately miss her warmth. “For how long was I doing that?” She asks hesitantly, as if she didn’t really want to know the answer.</p><p>You try your best to hold in your laughter. She was just too cute. “Since we left the Big Donut.”</p><p>“Oh, stars.” She hides her face in her hands and her next words come out muffled. “Why didn’t you say something?”</p><p>You decide to be honest. Maybe then it’ll ease her embarrassment. “I liked it.” You admit, just loud enough for her to hear you.</p><p>She takes a peek at you from between her hands. “What?”</p><p>You try to maintain eye contact, but inevitably fail. “Holding your hand. It was nice.” You look at the ground, kicking a nearby rock.</p><p>Her blush deepens, but she uncovers her face and gives you a giddy smile. “You mean it?”</p><p>You can’t help but smile back as you nod.</p><p>She lets out a sigh filled with relief.</p><p>You decide to take advantage of the moment and be bold. “Do you have somewhere to be after this?”</p><p>Your question seems to have made her remember something, as her eyes widen. “I have to go back to Homeworld before the Diamonds freak out.” She says, more to herself than to you.</p><p>“The Diamonds?” You ask curiously. There was more than one?</p><p>She nods. “It was hard enough to convince them to let me visit Earth, and after I told them I’d be back in a couple hours…” She looks up at the sky and winces as she notices the sun had already set.</p><p>You grimace, feeling guilty. You don’t know who these ‘Diamonds’ are, but they don't sound very forgiving. “Sorry to have kept you, then.”</p><p>She shakes her head so quickly you had to wonder how she didn’t become dizzy. “No, no! Don’t apologize.” She grins at you reassuringly. “They can be a bit overbearing, but they’re getting better. Besides…” Her smile suddenly turns shy. “…I’m really glad I met you.”</p><p>You feel your face start to heat up at her comment. You laugh, albeit awkwardly. “I-I’m really happy to have met you, too.”</p><p>She visibly lightens up. “Good! That’s good.” She rubs the back of her neck in what you had taken note as a nervous habit.</p><p>You gather all your courage and leap forward, trapping her in your arms. She freezes completely; not pulling away but not hugging you back either. Just as you start to regret your poorly-timed decision, you start to feel her hesitantly wrapping her arms around your middle.</p><p>She apologizes for her delayed reaction. “It’s just been a long time since I’ve had this much physical contact with anyone…” The pain in her voice hurts you as well.</p><p>“Do you want to pull away?” You offer in a low whisper, as if you would scare her away if you spoke too loudly.</p><p>You feel more than see her shake her head against your shoulder. “Can we just stay like this for a bit? Please?”</p><p>How can you say ‘no’ to that?</p><p>So you stay like that, wrapped in each other’s embrace, for an undetermined amount of time. Her body, once tense, relaxes completely in your arms. You can’t help but notice that Spinel smells really nice. The scent reminds you of vanilla, with maybe a hint of cinnamon. Internally, you are extremely grateful you had taken a shower early in the morning, and so it is likely you still smell like your strawberry-scented soap. You hope Spinel likes strawberries.</p><p>She pulls away after what was probably a long time, but to you it didn’t feel long enough. She is wearing a smile so bright in her face; you feel the urge to shield your eyes.</p><p>“As nice as this is, I need to go.” By the tone of her voice, she really doesn’t want to leave. The thought makes you feel butterflies on your stomach.</p><p>“Okay.” You respond. You take a deep breath, preparing yourself for what was about to come out of your mouth. “If you ever visit again, well, you know where to find me.” You feel very proud of yourself for having the courage to say that.</p><p>“You…” You are sad to see tears welling up in her eyes. “You would want to see me again?”</p><p>You take both of her hands in yours and give them a light squeeze. “Of course. We’re friends, remember?”</p><p>She looks away for a moment, then back at you. You can tell she’s doing her best to fight back her tears, unsuccessfully. You would think she was upset, if it wasn’t for her small, but grateful smile. “Yeah. We’re friends.” She hangs on to the word as if it’s foreign. “See you later?” She phrases it like a question.</p><p>You nod, smiling happily. You’re sure you must be blushing, but for now you don’t care at all.</p><p>And this time, she actually walks away. You stare after her, waving enthusiastically. She waves back, walking backwards so she can look at you as she leaves. This continues for a while, both of you waving at each other like the dorks you are, until you can’t even see her figure anymore.</p><p>You sigh to yourself as you unlock your front door. This has been quite the eventful day. You made a new friend, who you could only hope you were going to see a lot more of. It was a shame your cell phone’s connection could never reach where she lived.</p><p>You aren’t sure where your friendship with Spinel is going to lead, but there is one thing you are quite sure of:</p><p>You are <em>smitten.</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading the first chapter of this silly love story I came up with. Hope you enjoyed!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You are leaning your head on your window, typing away at your computer as you listen to the pitter-patter of the rain outside. You take a sip of your tea and sigh contently. You love rainy days. They are a perfect excuse for you not to go outside and spend the day writing instead.</p>
<p>Can you guess what you are writing about? That’s right! About your super gay crush on a gem you only met once. You aren’t the greatest at poems, but you feel like if you don’t put your feelings somewhere, your heart is going to explode. Was it weird for you to fall for someone you know had tried to destroy all organic life on Earth? Probably, but you can’t bring yourself to care.</p>
<p>It has only been a couple days since you last saw her, but you still miss her terribly. You didn’t ask when she planned to visit your planet again, not wanting to seem too clingy, but now you wish you did. Not knowing if you will only be able to see her in five years or in five minutes was driving you insane.</p>
<p>You are broken out of your thoughts by the sound of thunder. You flinch slightly, looking out the window just to see that the light rain that almost lulled you to sleep was now faster and heavier. You just hope the lights don’t go out.</p>
<p>Before you could turn your attention back to your computer, you hear someone knocking on your door, the sound almost completely drowned out by the weather. You don’t get up, only staring at your door in confusion. Who in their right mind would come visit you at this hour, especially after the forecast foretold that it would rain heavily all night long? You were probably just imagining it, you think to yourself as you continue writing.</p>
<p>Not even a few seconds later, you hear the sound again, this time slightly louder and more desperate. You reluctantly leave your seat and look through the peephole.</p>
<p>The sight before you is enough to make you gasp.</p>
<p>There she is, the gem you were just thinking about, standing on your doorway with both hands in front of her as she waits. She is absolutely drenched from head to toe.                      </p>
<p>Without wasting any more time, you open the door.</p>
<p>She smiles shakily at you, her body trembling in the cold. “H-Heya, doll-”</p>
<p>You grab her wrist and pull her inside your apartment before she could finish her greeting, quickly closing the door behind you. “Spinel! What were doing out in the rain?” She opens her mouth to answer you, but you don’t let her. “Nevermind. You can tell me later. Right now, we’re gonna focus on making sure you don’t get sick, okay?”</p>
<p>Before she could even think of responding, you dash towards your bedroom, calling out to her as you rummage through your clothes for something warm that might fit her. “The bathroom is the first door to your left! You can take a hot bath if you want to!”</p>
<p>You continue your search until you find something fitting. With a victorious ‘a-ha!’ you pull out a colorful sweater you had received from your grandma a few Christmases ago, only for both of you to realize it was way too big. You kept it anyways, as the sweater was handmade and there was no way you were going to throw it away when it was made with so much love for you. You can’t help but be glad that it was going to finally serve a purpose, even if the one wearing it wouldn’t be you. You also throw in your favorite scarf for good measure. Spinel wouldn’t be getting cold on your watch!</p>
<p>You knock gently on the bathroom’s door, intending to leave the selected clothes inside before leaving her to her own devices. “Spinel? Can I come in?”</p>
<p>A soft hum of approval is the only thing you need to hear before entering. You expected her to have pulled the curtains to cover herself or something of that nature but you are dead <em>wrong</em>. You take a few seconds to realize that no, she isn’t wrapped in a towel like she should have been, and yes, she is completely exposed.</p>
<p>You let out a sound between a yelp and a gasp as you shut your eyes tightly to at least maintain a little bit of her privacy. She isn’t exactly naked, and the steam is covering most of her body anyways, but you still feel heat creeping up your neck.</p>
<p>“You okay there, sunshine?” Her voice doesn’t sound embarrassed like you expected, in fact, the only emotion you can perceive is concern.  </p>
<p>You make a noise that was supposed to be laughter, but instead you sound like a dying goose. “Yup! Never better!” Even your voice sounds weird to you. Like you are being strangled. Which you are, strangled by your own embarrassment.  </p>
<p>You decide to do what you came here to do, leaving your neat pile of clothing on the toilet seat. As soon as you’ve completed your duty, you leave the bathroom in a hurry, almost tripping on your own two feet in the process.</p>
<p>You head towards the kitchen, intent on making hot chocolate for the both of you to keep your mind occupied. You will <em>not </em>think about what just happened. Nuh uh. You hope Spinel doesn’t mention it. Ever.</p>
<p>Just after you start to calm your nervous wreck self, you start to notice some sort of <em>sound </em>coming from the bathroom. You strain your ears, just to realize what it was.</p>
<p>Spinel is singing.</p>
<p>And oh my god her voice is beautiful.</p>
<p>You can’t make out the words, but you can tell the song is incredibly melancholic. You start to hum along, tapping your feet to the beat even though you don’t know how the song goes. You mess up multiple times, but it’s fine because she most likely can’t hear you over the sound of the shower and her own voice.</p>
<p>Way too early, she stops, the song seemingly coming to an end. You hear the door open, and you turn to look at it in surprise. You were so caught up in her song, you hadn’t even noticed the shower turn off.</p>
<p>Spinel leaves the bathroom, and you have to stop yourself from staring. She looks utterly adorable wearing your clothes.</p>
<p>She looks at you and smiles slightly, apparently not knowing what to do with herself. You gesture towards the couch as you walk up to her and handle her a mug full of your freshly-made hot chocolate (with tons of marshmallows, of course!).  “Please, have a seat.”</p>
<p>She does as she’s told. You take a seat just beside her, close enough that you can feel her warmth, but far away enough for you to not invade her personal space. As you sit down, you wrap the biggest and fluffiest blanket you have around her.</p>
<p>She just blinks at you, confused. “What’s this for?”</p>
<p>“So you don’t get sick? It’s quite chilly tonight.”</p>
<p>You can tell she’s trying her hardest not to laugh at you. “Gems can’t get sick, doll.”</p>
<p>“You can’t?” You feel your face start to heat up. Great. She hadn’t been here for even ten minutes and you already embarrassed yourself <em>twice</em> in her presence.</p>
<p>“But…” She buries herself on your blanket as she lets out a content sigh. “…I don’t mind this at all.”</p>
<p>You can’t help but smile fondly. She is currently the definition of ‘blanket burrito’.</p>
<p>Looking at her made you remember something important. “So, why did you show up at my house at-” You take a glance at the clock on the kitchen wall. “Two in the morning?” You suddenly realize how that sounds. “Not that I dislike your company or anything! I was just wondering, since it’s a weird time to be awake and we haven’t seen each other in a few days so I wasn’t sure when you would visit again and-” You cut yourself off as you realize you had been rambling like an idiot.</p>
<p>Spinel looks like she is thinking hard of how to respond. “Well, I sort of forgot humans need to sleep and…” You couldn’t hear what she said next, as it was nothing but a mumbled mess of words.</p>
<p>“Sorry, could you repeat that?” You ask gently, moving slightly closer to her so you could hear her better.</p>
<p>She rubs the back of her neck nervously. “I kinda missed you? A lot? And I wanted to see you as soon as possible?”</p>
<p>Oh god, this gem was going to be the death of you.</p>
<p>Your smile is so big your cheeks start to hurt. “I missed you too.” </p>
<p>“You did?” The disbelief in her voice and the wonder in her eyes are enough for you to want to hug her and never let go. “I’m not bothering you being here?”</p>
<p>“Of course not, Spins.” You hope your smile is reassuring.</p>
<p>“…Spins?”</p>
<p>Oh shit, you just called her a nickname out of nowhere. Abort! Abort!</p>
<p>“I meant Spinel! <em>Spinel!</em> That’s what I said!” You give her a fake grin, feeling your face heating up more and more by the minute. You know she won’t fall for your obvious lie, but it can’t hurt to try.</p>
<p>She stares at you with an unreadable expression. Finally, she beams, a gleeful laugh escaping her. “Spins? That’s adorable, darling!” Her cocky smirk doesn’t waste time turning bashful. “I, uh, don’t mind if you call me that. Always.”</p>
<p>It’s your turn to smirk. Wow. You didn’t think she would like it that much. You suppose it makes sense, though. If she likes calling you cute nicknames all the time, it’s only natural that she would want one too. “Okay. Spins it is!”</p>
<p>This time, you are <em>sure</em> you saw her pupils turn into hearts for a brief moment. You don’t know what to make of it, aside from that it’s cute as hell.</p>
<p>You fall into a comfortable silence as you take your time drinking your hot chocolate. Spinel hesitantly takes a sip, and the next moment she finishes it in a single gulp, leaving only the marshmallows behind.</p>
<p>She takes a peek inside her mug and stares at it from all sides, as if what was left of the beverage was going to reveal the secret to its deliciousness if she glared at it hard enough.</p>
<p>“Do you maybe want some more?” You ask her between giggles.</p>
<p>She must’ve realized that she looked ridiculous, because as she looked at you her face was flushed with embarrassment. “Please?”</p>
<p>You nod, gently taking the mug from her hands. You usher her to follow you as you head back to the kitchen. “Do you want to see how I made it?”</p>
<p>You don’t hear a response, but the fact that her footsteps got faster was answer enough for you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You start humming a random tune as you mix the chocolate. Spinel is beside you, watching your every move with curiosity. Despite having gone through the process of making hot chocolate multiple times, you’re not great under pressure, and as such you are afraid you are going to mess up the recipe with how intently she was staring at you.</p>
<p>In the end, you are able to do it perfectly, and you perform a victory dance in your head.</p>
<p>You and Spinel sit back down on the couch as you surf through the channels on the TV for something good to watch. She admits she has never seen a human movie before, and you feel obligated to show her one of your favorites. You end up picking a comedy, a genre you thought she would enjoy.</p>
<p>“What’s that?” She points toward the TV, where the main character had just kissed their love interest goodbye.</p>
<p>“It’s called a kiss. It’s a thing humans do to show affection.”</p>
<p>She still looks a bit puzzled, so you gather all your courage and place a chaste kiss on her cheek. “See? Like that.” You hope your blush is not too visible.</p>
<p>She brings a hand to the cheek you kissed, her face turning a lovely shade of red.                        </p>
<p>After a few moments of staring at you in awe, she finally seems to snap out of it as she gives you a cute grin. Before you could even process it, she mirrors your actions, swiftly placing her mouth on your cheek.</p>
<p>“Did I do it right?” She asks nervously after you fail to respond.</p>
<p>“Y-Yeah. You’re a quick learner.” You answer when your brain decided to start working again.</p>
<p>She puffs out her chest proudly at your approval, then looks back at the TV. She furrows her eyebrows, staring intently at the passionate kiss the couple is sharing.</p>
<p>Just as you are calming down your racing heart, her next words made it speed up all over again.</p>
<p>“That’s not what they are doing, though.” She looks at you with pure confusion showing clearly on her face. Before you could process what she was about to do, you feel her lips tenderly touch yours. She pulls away before you could think of doing it yourself or reciprocating. “That’s more like it!” She announces, looking pleased with herself.</p>
<p>You let out an undignified squeak, struggling to form a coherent sentence as your brain short-circuited. “S-Spins! Y-You can’t just <em>do</em> that!”</p>
<p>She looks startled by your outburst. “Why not?”</p>
<p>“T-That’s…” You clear your dry throat. Was it hot in here, or was it just you? “Because it’s a <em>romantic</em> kiss. You only do it with someone you’re <em>romantically</em> involved with.”</p>
<p>For a second, you wonder if she even knows what that is. But by the look of realization and dread that takes over her face, she does.</p>
<p>Her face takes on a scarlet hue, even redder than yours, if that’s even possible. “Oh my stars, I’m so sorry!”</p>
<p>You laugh awkwardly. “It’s fine. I know you didn’t mean it like that.” Unfortunately.</p>
<p>She goes quiet, and you can’t blame her. What else is there to say in such a situation?</p>
<p>You turn your attention back to the movie in other to distract yourself. But as the scenes go by, you realize that there’s no way you can pay attention with the thoughts that are running through your head. You can’t help but think about how much you liked the feeling of her lips on yours… No. Stop. As you just said, she didn’t mean it like that. You are friends. Nothing more, nothing less.</p>
<p>The silence grows more awkward by the second.</p>
<p>“Toots?” Spinel is the first to break it. Her voice is low, and she isn’t looking at you.</p>
<p>You gulp. “Y-Yeah?”</p>
<p>“Are you cold?” You didn’t notice until she asked, but you are shivering and there are goosebumps all over your skin.</p>
<p>Despite that, you shake your head. “I’ll be fine.” You <em>could </em>just go grab a jacket in your room, but the idea of getting up isn’t very appealing.</p>
<p>You continue trying to pay attention to the movie, thinking the subject was dropped. But then you feel the weight of something warm being dropped on your shoulders. You tentatively take a glance at Spinel, just to see that she was smiling at you, though her cheeks were still burning bright red. You notice that she was way closer to you than before, and that she had decided to share the blanket with you. “Is this okay?”</p>
<p>This was way past your bedtime, so you blame it on sleepiness when you rest your head on her shoulder. “Thank you.” You mutter shyly.</p>
<p>You feel her tense beside you, and you are just about to scoot away from her and apologize when she relaxes, draping an arm around your frame. “Anything for you, sunshine.”</p>
<p>Being in her arms made you remember how tired you are. You look at the TV, trying and failing to keep your eyes open. You didn’t want to fall asleep, afraid that this visit was a onetime occurrence.</p>
<p>Almost as if she could hear your inner doubts, Spinel suggested something that warmed you up much faster than the blanket could. “What do you think of us going somewhere together one of these days?”</p>
<p>“Like… a date?” Was the only thing your sleepy brain seemed to latch onto.</p>
<p>“What’s a date?”</p>
<p>You laugh, your tiredness making you more giggly than usual. “Nevermind.” You are too exhausted to explain yourself. But you decide right then and there to teach her as many ‘human things’ as you possibly could. After you get some rest, of course.</p>
<p>From the corner of your eye, you can see her pout at your response, but she doesn’t press it. “So?” She tilts her head to look at you.</p>
<p>You realize you hadn’t answered her question. “I’d love to.”</p>
<p>A happy squeal escapes her, and by the way she freezes as soon as it does, she didn’t mean to make her excitement known.</p>
<p>You dissolve into a fit of drunken giggles. “That was adorable. <em>You</em> are adorable!” You probably wouldn’t be so bold if you weren’t about to fall asleep, and it was very likely you were going to regret saying that in the morning. For now, though, your brain gave absolutely no fucks.</p>
<p>You would usually be more nervous about the silence that followed, but right now you just keep laughing yourself silly.</p>
<p>She cleared her throat after a long while. “Not more adorable than you.” She answered smoothly.</p>
<p>Now <em>that</em> your brain registered. Was she flirting? Were <em>you</em> flirting? Were you <em>both</em> flirting?? You are suddenly wide awake.</p>
<p>You simply hide your face on her shoulder, making a noise of distress. It’s her turn to laugh at your expense.</p>
<p>“You can dish it, but can’t take it, huh, doll?” She teases.</p>
<p>You come out of your hiding spot just to stick your tongue at her like a very mature adult. Like an equally mature gem, Spinel returns the gesture.</p>
<p>You try to get back into the movie, but being this close to her was incredibly distracting. It didn’t help that the warmth of both her and the blanket are slowly lulling you to sleep. You try your hardest to keep your eyes open, but it’s a fight you can’t win.</p>
<p>The last thing you remember before sleep claimed you was Spinel leaning her head against yours.</p>
<p>“Goodnight, darling.”</p>
<p>And, well, if you sighed contentedly and cuddled closer, no one else was around to see it.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>After watching Homeworld Bound, I realized the Spinel I write is incredibly OOC. </p>
<p>Hopefully that doesn't stop you guys from enjoying this story, though!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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